This invention relates generally to the field of public telephone pay stations, and more particularly to an improved construction for anchoring the armored cable normally used to interconnect a handset component of such pay station to the fixed cabinet which contains the remaining components of the station.
While most telephone handsets are interconnected to the base of the instrument using a flexible plastic covered cable, the relatively rough usage, often destructive, to which public pay stations are subjected, has necessitated the placing of the cable within a spirally wound metallic shield anchored at one end to the telephone handset, and at the other end within the telephone cabinet. The metallic shield discourages breaking or cutting of the cable, but the cable can be unwound with the application of excessive axially directed force. This force is resisted by providing a non-conductive flexible lanyard which is anchored at separate points to the handset and the cabinet, and is contained within the shield.
In spite of the above provisions, the rate of attrition of handsets over relatively short periods of time is often considerable, and when a handset becomes unserviceable, the usual procedure is to replace the same on the site with another functioning handset. The disconnection of the electrical contacts, the ends of the cable, and the lanyard, and the reconnection of the replacement handset can often require a substantial period of time invested by service personnel.